The Articles of Confederation
True or False - We still use the Articles of Confederation to structure our government today.
FALSE
Which branch is created by Article I?
Legislative Branch
Carter shouts "fire" as a prank at a crowded basketball game. The school suspends him, but he argues that he has a right to free speech.
1. Which amendment does this deal with?
2. Is shouting "fire" as a prank constitutional?
1st
NO
Which amendment protects your right to bear arms?
2nd
True or False - Anti-Federalists supported the Constitution
False
Identify one strength of the Articles of Confederation
Post office
Peace with Great Britain
Process for admitting new states
Process for selling western lands
Which Article creates the Executive Branch and the office of the President?
Article II
Cameron is accused of breaking and entering. He is read his Miranda rights but refuses a court appointed attorney and decides to represent himself. He loses the case.
1. Which amendment does this case deal with?
2. Is representing yourself constitutional?
2. Yes
What does your third amendment protect you from?
Quartering Troops
What Compromise between Federalists and Antifederalists allowed the constitution to be ratified.
Bill of Rights
Identify two reasons why the economy struggled under the Articles of Confederation.
The federal government couldn't tax
States could all issue their own currency
States could place tariffs on each other
Inflation
Farmers struggled to repay their debts
What does Article III do?
It creates the Supreme court, federal jurisdiction and the Judicial Branch
A prison guard notices that an inmate is suffering a stroke but waits until the next shift change to notify a medical professional.
1. Which amendment does this deal with?
2. Is the prison guards treatment of the prisoner constitutional?
1. 8th
2. NO
Identify the five freedoms protected by the first amendment.
Freedom of:
- Speech
- Press
-Assembly
- Religion
- Petition
Federalist or Antifederalist?
“It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices [checks and balances] should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”
-James Madison
Federalist
Identify two reasons why the government under the Articles of Confederation struggled to respond to rebellions.
No President
No Military
No Executive Branch
No Taxes
No Courts
Each state thought of themselves as their own sovereign state
Which Article creates the process for ratifying the Constitution?
Article VII
Janet and Chandler are having a fight in front of a window of their home. A police officer is walking by on the public street and sees that Janet is about to stab Chandler with a knife. The officer breaks in and subdues the fight. Janet is arrested for assault.
1. Which amendment?
2. Was it constitutional for the police officer to enter the home in this scenario?
1. 4th
2. Yes
Identify two rights that your 6th amendment protects.
Right to an attorney
Right to a speedy and public trial
Trial by a jury of your peers
Confront witnesses against you
Compulsory process to obtain witnesses
Federalist or Anti-Federalist?
“This Convention have exceeded the authority given to them, and have transmitted to Congress a new political fabric, essentially and fundamentally distinct and different from it, in which the different states do not retain separately their sovereignty and independency, united by a confederate league—but one entire sovereignty, a consolidation of them into one government—… My object is to take up this new form of national government…and to show that its principles, and the exercise of them, will be dangerous to your liberty and happiness."
Anti-Federalist
What event exposed the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?
Shay's Rebellion
Which Article creates the process for amending the Constitution?
Article V
The state of North Carolina wants to build a highway through Laurel's farm. She refuses to sell her land. The government seizes her property and gives her a check for the market value.
1. Which amendment?
2. Is the government's actions constitutional?
1. 5th
2. No
Identify what both your 9th and 10th amendment do.
The 9th amendment says that there are some right not stated in the Constitution that still belong to the people
The 10th says that powers not given to the federal government or denied to the government lie with the states or the people.
Federalist or Antifederalist?
“To produce a balance and checks, the constitution proposes two branches in the legislature; but they are so formed, that the members of both must generally be the same kind of men--men having similar interests and views, feelings and connections--men of the same grade in society, and who associate on all occasions (probably, if there be any difference, the senators will be the most democratic.) Senators and representatives thus circumstanced, as men, though convened in two rooms, to make laws, must be governed generally by the same motives and views, and therefore pursue the same system of politics; the partitions between the two branches will be merely those of the building in which they sit: there will not be found in them any of those genuine balances and checks, among the real different interests, and efforts of the several classes of men in the community we aim at;”
Antifederalist